The American Comes to Hogwarts
by IDespiseReality
Summary: Harley is a orphan from America living on the streets. When she turns 11 her life is turned upside down by a "professor" with a most unbelievable and un-amusing joke. She meets the Potter/Weasley clan and they all cause a lot of trouble as they navigate their way through the halls of the most famous, secret school of all time. Join Harley for her first year at Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

_**This is my first story constructive criticism encouraged flames ignored. Hope you like it**_

_**I'm not J. K. Rowling :'(**_

_Chapter1_

It was late June or early July when Harley woke to a strange man in strange robe like clothing, standing over her and staring down at her. The first thought running through the 11 year olds head was that he must be a drifter, like me, homeless, then she noticed that his robes although stranger were nicely tailored and clean and that the man was also washed and clean shaven, definitely not a drifter she thought. The first thought going through the man's head was '_poor girl'_, closely followed by, '_she is never going to believe me'_. The man had a round face and was of average height with an average build and average blond hair, aside from his hazel eyes, that seemed to scream "trust me", he looked like an average man in his mid to late 30's. Harley was not average, she was short for her age, looking at her one could not be sure when the last she had eaten showered or even brushed her hair was, the man could not even clearly tell what color her hair was. To top off the fact that she looked so unusual were her startling blue eyes; they were an icy ocean blue that looked as if they could flood over and drown you with the emotion that she clearly tried to keep hidden or else freeze you in stone were you stood, almost like a like a modern day Medusa.

The man could not tell why on earth he was so drawn to her but he was; he had this feeling that he needed to protect her from ever having any more emotion shoved into her that would threaten to overwhelm her small fragile body. They both stared at one another for a few moments before he decided that as the older, more experienced, adult he ought to have the guts to break the silence, but he was almost afraid that if he said anything to her the flood gates would open and she would never stop crying. So in the most tender voice he could he asked,

"My I sit?". To which she replied, apprehensively,

"I suppose".

As she moved Harley noticed several things that she had not before such as the fact that, the sun was only just coming up so it couldn't have been much later than 6 in the morning, it was foggy and cold and wet, it had clearly rained last night yet she was only damp not soaked and she was warmer then she should be. As she looked down she noticed also that she was covered by a large piece of black cloth that looked suspiciously like the cloth of the robes worn by the man now sitting next to her. Looking back up at the man she asked, gesturing to the black cloak covering her,

"Did you do this?".

"Yes" came his reply,

"Why?"

"Because you were cold and alone and it was starting to rain".

He said it so matter-of-factly not like it was obvious or he was sarcastic but like he was expecting her to ask it and was not surprised when she did. She did not know what to say so she remained quiet as he continued,

"I need to have a discussion with you," he paused to look at her and waited for her to gesture for him to continued. He was more hesitant as he continued,

"this conversation will be long and confusing and very likely slightly upsetting to you, for these reasons perhaps we should go somewhere less wet, more comfortable and where I can purchase us each a hot meal."

It wasn't a question but even though the words presented no choice his tone and caring hazel eyes told her that he would stay right there for this "discussion" if that would make her more comfortable. What wasn't a question was that they would in fact be discussing whatever it was that he came to discuss regardless of where they were. Harley was nowhere near a easily trusting person however, for some reason she felt as if she could trust this man and she did not know why. She wanted to at least be able to tell herself latter on that she hadn't just run off to god knows where willy-nilly with a complete stranger so she started to weigh the pros and cons of agreeing to go with this man or to simple run as fast as she could in the other direction.

'_What if he wants' to kidnap you or kill you_' the not hungry logical side of her brain asked beginning the debate of what to do.

_'If he had wanted to why would he have covered me with his probably expensive black cape and wait however long he had for her to wake up?'_ the other side of her brain countered. There seemed to be no reply from her infuriatingly smart side, so the hungry side continued with

_'I don't even remember the last time I had a meal let alone a hot one pared with the fact that she probably wouldn't be able to out run him and he was very adamant about having this discussion why not get some decent food out of it?'_ Again no reply and her mind was made up she would accompany this man, get a meal and skip out when needed.

_'After all'_ she thought with finality _'I'm gonna talk to this man about whatever he came to talk about and he was offering a free meal somewhere with a roof and heater.'_

Well she had been pondering this in her head his expression had steadily become more and more worried, however it seemed to her that he was more worried that she had not said yes yet then that she would say no. This confused her but her stomach gave a rather persistent growl and she finally said

"O.K. that sounds wonderful, thank you".

He looked surprised as if he didn't think she would know words like _wonderful_ and _thank you_. As they stood up from the bench she made to give the man back his cloak however he waved her off telling her to keep it as it was still rather chilly out. As she again told the man thank you she realized that she actually meant it, as opposed to when she usually uses her manners simple because she had told herself, and the children she used to take care of at the orphanage, that that was what parents taught their kids. As he walked slightly ahead of her she could have sworn that she saw him putting a polished stick in one of the inside pockets of his robes, a polished stick, that had she not been so wrapped up in her thoughts about what to do she would have seen him pull out earlier and start waving it in her direction as if that could somehow get her to agree with him.

_**/the end/the end/the end/the end/the end/the end/the end/the end/the end/the end/**_

_**Please R&R**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**I would like to thank Jacedracopercyfinnick and TheDramionePrincess for Beta reading this story for me.**_

_Chapter 2_  
It took them 10 minutes to reach the Blue Moon Café, in those 10 minutes Harley got more stares for the man she was with than she had ever gotten for being a drifter. Upon reaching the café the strange man, who she realized, on the walk over, she did not even know the name of, asked for the table closest to the door. As he sat facing the door with his back to the corner of the dark blue wall behind him they surveyed each other until the waitress came over asking if they were ready to order. Harley supposed she was beautiful though she did not have anything to really compare the woman to; she had straight dark brown hair and green gray eyes. She also looked as if she enjoyed the food at the café and had had her fair share of free samples. After the stranger across from her ordered himself a bear claw and medium coffee, she was about to order the same thing, as a quick perusal over the menu told her that she did not know what any of it was, when the man ordered for her. Actually Harley would say that he had ordered for everyone in the restaurant but was certainly not going to complain about it. He had ordered her the whole nine yards, a chocolate brownie, a blueberry muffin, a jelly donut, a bavarian cream filled donut, (whatever the heck that was) and hot chocolate.

Harley was amazed by the strangers generosity to a girl he didn't even know, she again gave the man her thanks in the most sincere voice she could manage through her shock. His reply surprised her because it was a tone no one had ever spoken to her in "of course dear, I would have asked what you wanted but something told me you wouldn't know so I did what any truly smart and mature adult would have done under the circumstances." he sounded joking and did have the ghost of a smile playing at his lips, so she decided to ask what she decided to ask what she was sure he wanted her to "What did you do?" he did indeed seem pleased at being asked and he leaned across the table to whisper his answer as if it were a very important secret for just Harley and him, "I guessed". After she let out a chuckle he looked relived and let one out one as well. "Well then now, let's 'get down to business' as you American's say", after this statement Harley remembered why she was sitting in a cafe across from a complete stranger in the first place she also realized with a start that this man had a British accent and was thoroughly embarrassed that she had not noticed it before. "I am Professor Neville Longbottom" "Harley" she replied, holding out her hand taking it in his own he gave it one firm shake and released it saying "Yes, I know who you are, Harley, and I must say you have very good manners, I know several children with two parents who have nowhere near as good manners as you." Harley was a bit tired of having to say "thank you, sir" but none the less it was sincere. "You are very welcome however, that is not why I am here. As I said, I am Professor Longbottom, I live in the town of St. Catchpole in Devon, England. I teach Herbology at Hogwarts and I am here because you have been offered a position there." O.K. not what she was expecting, not that she really knew what to expect. "Sir, I'm honored but I think you have the wrong girl. I've never applied to or even heard of Hogwarts. Besides I don't have any money or way to get to this school." She rambled to which he replied "The school is free and not one that you apply to, Hogwarts is a school for special children, you get your place at birth. Also I will be transporting you to London personally where you will then take the night bus to kings cross station, following that you will bored the Hogwarts Express by 11 o'clock on the 1st of September and be on your way." Seeing that she was confused and that his explanation was not making her any less so, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a letter, handing it to her, he continued "I find that it is easier to give the child their acceptance letter and after they have read it allow them to ask any and all questions." Taking and examining the letter she found that it, just like everything else from today, was strange. The envelope was thick and heavy, made of a yellowish parchment and the address was written in emerald green ink. The address was the most confusing part and Harley re-read it to make sure that she had in fact read it correctly. The address read:  
"Ms. Harley,  
The streets  
New York City  
New York  
America  
Harley's hand were shaking as she turned it over, on the other side holding the envelope closed was a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake, surrounding a large 'H', which she thought it was safe to assume stood for Hogwarts. Harley tried to remain reverent well at the same time hastily tearing open the letter, which was made of the same heavy yellow parchment as the envelope, she couldn't help but let her hopes rise higher than the empire state building as she unfolded the letter, at the thought that this letter could take her away could give her a new, safer, better, life in a new country where she could start over.

As she read the first line and only the first line she felt as if she were going to cry. She had let her hopes get so high and as they came crashing down it felt as if they had been as high as three empire state buildings stacked on top of one another. The sentence read:  
'Dear Miss Harley,  
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.' What she said next nearly broke Neville's heart because she sounded so vulnerable, so sad, so broken, that he didn't think she would ever recover , and silent tears started to roll down her face. "I'm being punk'd".

_**Here endeth chapter 2. **_

_**What do you think love it hate it want me to stop writing(not that I would just because you want me to but...)?**_

_**Please Please Please read and review.**_


End file.
